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Cyber Report #1,025

A wide swath of Florida is being described as “one huge disaster zone” as Hurricane Michael brought heavy rains, strong winds and a devastating storm surge after making land in the Panhandle city of Mexico Beach.

Hurricane Michael is the third strongest storm — clocking in at 155-mph, just 2-mph short of a Category 5 — ever to hit the U.S. mainland. It left 650,000 homes and businesses without power, and is continuing northeast today as a tropical storm, hitting the Carolinas with heavy rains and threatening to spawn tornadoes, and leaving 70 percent of the counties in Georgia under a state of emergency.

According to multiple media reports, Panama City was the worst-hit coastal town. Both Bowl-A-Rama Lanes, a 16-lane center that opened in 1958, and Rock’it Lanes, a 24-laner described as “the only bowling center on the beach,” posted Facebook messages indicating that they would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, and urging customers to stay safe.

Also sitting directly in Michael’s path was Raptor Lanes, a 12-lane center at Tyndall Air Force Base. Reports indicate that the base, which sits across the bay from Panama City, sustained extensive damage, and base personnel had been ordered to evacuate on Monday.

Earlier today, Capital Lanes in Florida’s state capital city of Tallahassee, 170 miles inland from Panama City, posted, “Capital Lanes does not have power. We will keep you posted when it’s restored. We hope everyone is safe. Be careful; the roadways have many downed trees and branches.”

That’s likely to be the case for many businesses in the path of the storm, as even tropical storms can do extensive damage.

It will be weeks or months until the full extent of Hurricane Michael’s impact will be known. But the “Waffle House Factor” provided an early indication of the storm’s severity.

Waffle House is known for staying open during many natural disasters. According to Business Insider, the chain’s policy has provided an unofficial way for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to track the severity of a natural disaster. If a Waffle House closes, it suggests the event was bad enough to potentially have devastating effects on the economy.

FEMA’s internal “Waffle House Index” indicates that if a Waffle House store is open and offering a full menu, the index is green. If it is open but serving from a limited menu, it’s yellow. When the location has been forced to close, the index is red.

As Hurricane Michael hit land and started heading northeast, the “Waffle House Index” was red at 40 locations across the region.

World Bowling Signs New Sports Consultancy Agency

World Bowling has announced the appointment of sports consultancy agency Reddentes Sports, with the mandate to develop new broadcast properties, manage the distribution of its media rights and explore new commercial opportunities for the international governing body of the sport.

Reddentes Sports has been tasked to oversee the broadcast production and media rights distribution for the upcoming World Bowling Men’s Championships in Hong Kong, set for Nov. 23-Dec. 5. It has since confirmed I-Cable, a leading provider of pay-TV services in Hong Kong, as the host production and broadcaster partner, and has secured distribution in Malaysia (Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd) and Singapore (StarHub), with more broadcast partners to be announced soon.

In addition, Reddentes Sports will develop long-term strategies for World Bowling’s properties and calendar of events, including a five-year plan until 2023 for its annual flagship initiative, the World Bowling Tour.

“We are excited to work with Reddentes Sport and utilize their wealth of media and commercial expertise to raise the profile of our sport globally,” said World Bowling’s CEO, Kevin Dornberger. “Located in Asia and having relationships with the international sports industry, they are a perfect fit to grow the footprint for our sport in core and emerging markets. We look forward to redefining our media-rights structure and commercial portfolio to increase exposure for our athletes and blue-ribbon events. This offers bowling fans greater opportunities to follow the sport, as well as building new revenue streams to take our international events to new heights.”

Reddentes Sport — a consultancy agency that offers expertise and services that include media rights consulting, commercial development, events management and marketing, organizational advisory, as well as athlete management — was recently established by Mark Chew and his partners, who have held successful commercial and leadership roles at global agencies, broadcast media and government positions.

“We are encouraged by this appointment by World Bowling and are excited to offer our global expertise and local knowledge to help realize the sport’s broadcast and commercial potential,” said Chew. “This is a wonderful opportunity to work with an international sports federation with bold ambitions to take bowling to the next level, and we are delighted to collaborate with them to reach their goals.”

Centers, IBMHF Selling Tickets for VIP Experience

An incredible opportunity for pro bowling fans — the Hall of Fame VIP Experience — has been announced by the Board of Trustees of the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame in conjunction with the Professional Bowlers Association.

A $20 raffle ticket purchase will give fans a chance at a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience during the PBA Hall of Fame Classic, which will take place Jan. 5-6 at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas.

One lucky winner will receive:

Round-trip travel and meal expenses for two to the International Bowling Campus, site of the 2019 PBA Hall of Fame Classic.

Weekend events hosted by Hall of Famer Mike Aulby.

Private, behind-the-scenes guided tour of the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, and the International Bowling Campus.

Special exhibit ribbon-cutting at the museum.

Tickets to a PBA pre-banquet cocktail party.

VIP seating at the PBA Hall of Fame Awards Banquet.

Meet and greet with PBA Hall of Fame bowlers.

Special PBA production tour.

VIP seating at the live televised PBA finals of the PBA Hall of Fame Classic on FOX Sports.

Bowling jersey autographed by the PBA Hall of Fame Classic champion.

Autographed PBA championship pin.

Photo in a national bowling magazine.

Tons of photo and autograph opportunities.

Raffle tickets sales will begin Oct. 15 and will be available at select bowling centers throughout the U.S., or by contacting the IBMHoF at 817-385-8230 or www.bowlingmuseum.com.

The winning ticket will be drawn on Facebook Live Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. Central. All proceeds from the raffle will benefit the museum’s Frame4Frame Film Restoration Initiative.

Business Briefs…

* The city of Kenai, Alaska, is seeking a new tenant for the bowling center it owns adjacent to Kenai Municipal Airport. The building has been dark since the center’s previous owner defaulted on lease payments in 2015. A local resident has shown interest in reviving the center, but has yet to secure funding for capital equipment upgrades.

* Bowlero is coming to The Buchanan building in Crystal City, an urban neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Va., south of downtown Washington, D.C. The 44,000-sq.-ft. venue will have 32 lanes, an arcade and a full bar and restaurant. A fall 2019 opening is planned.

* Bowlero Corp. also reportedly is taking over space formerly occupied by Wallingford Bowl in Wallingford, Conn. Wallingford also is home to Brunswick Zone Colony Lanes.

* Bob Langley of Bowling Center Insurance has announced the addition of two new team members. Matthew Hernandez resides in Baton Rouge, La., and will be servicing the Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi regions. Laken McClelland resides in San Antonio, Texas, and will be servicing the Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico regions.

* A late February or early March opening is anticipated for Pinhouse, a two-level, self-serve taproom in Charlotte, N.C. In addition to 70 taps featuring beer, wine and cider, Pinhouse will have food service, offer live music and feature four duckpin lanes. Read more here: https://www.charlottefive.com/pinhouse-bar-charlotte-nc/.

Other News You Can Use…

* The Go Bowling! PBA Tour will return to the Tulsa area for the first time in 13 years when The Lanes at Coffee Creek in Owasso, Okla., hosts the 2018 revival of the FloBowling PBA Fall Swing Oct. 15-20. The multi-event tournament package, which will be conducted on two different PBA lane conditions, will be covered live exclusively on PBA’s online streaming service, Xtra Frame on FloBowling. Full story: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/go-bowling-pba-tours-flobowling-fall-swing-gets-underway-oct-15/.

* Gary Forman, co-owner of Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, Calif., and one of the busiest people in bowling, is the guest this week on Phantom Radio. To listen to the interview, go to: https://kegel.squarespace.com/phantomblog/2018/10/10/gary-forman-phantom-radio. Forman and his business partner, Dave Osborn, are featured in the cover story of the October issue of Bowling Center Management.

* CONTACT: Please send business news, event information, etc. to Bob Johnson at bjibob@aol.com. For breaking business news, visit bcmmag.com or bowlersjournal.com, and “Like” Bowling Center Management and Bowlers Journal International on Facebook. BJI Cyber Reports are now archived at bcmmag.com.